Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Brady Riggs was online Tuesday at noon EST to answer your swing questions and analyze your swing videos. If you have question or video link for Brady, leave it in the comments section below! Hope everyone enjoyed the Masters as much as I did. What a great week for golf! Thanks for a great blog. See you next week. Chris asks at 1:30: Lately I've been hitting a lot of dead pulls with my driver. I aim down the right side on most holes to play the natural draw, but lately I often pull the ball across entire fairways into trouble on the left. Unfortunately, I don't have any video to post, but do you have any general tips for avoiding pulls? I am making solid contact and there isn't any extra draw/hook on the ball, just a huge pull with a slight right-to-left. This isn't an issue my irons, I have the occasional low, pull hook with the irons but I usually trace that with getting wildly out of rhythm and allowing my arms to come through too quickly. (I have been working on a new swing and still have the occasional swing where I revert to old habits.)Thanks for the blog, it has become required reading for me every week! Glad you enjoy the blog, Chris. Keep in mind that the ball will start where the face is pointing. There are multiple reasons why the clubface would be more closed through impact. The grip can be too strong, the left wrist (right-hander) can be too bowed on the downswing, the hands can be overactive through impact, your body can be hanging back causing the overactive hands, etc. These are all possibilities. You should also check the ball position as a ball played too far forward can also produce a closed face at impact. If you are going to play the draw, I would prefer your alignment be toward the center of the fairway and your swing produce a shot that starts right of the target and works to the left in the air. This requires a path that is attacking from the inside, and a face that is closed to the path and slightly open to the target line. Work on starting the ball right of the target and get back to me. J from the UK asks at 1:15: I have been playing and practising hard now that the season is in full swing. Here are some updated videos which I'd be grateful for your opinion. I have worked hard on limiting movement off the ball in the takeaway. I am really pleased with the results as my misses are not nearly as severe as when I tried to "load" onto my right leg. I suppose it's now a better pivot.My question to you is how do better players use the ground for leverage, particularly in the downswing? It's a phrase I hear a lot but have never really understood it.Did you enjoy the Masters? I think I like "Bubba Golf".As ever, thanks for the blog! Thanks for the video. Yes, I really enjoyed the Masters. Louis Oosthuizen might have the best swing in the game. As a student of the golf swing it was a joy watching him swing the club. Bubba is a baller, reminds me of watching Seve. I really enjoyed watching him PLAY the game. I think your golf swing looks really good and you are using your legs effectively. I am going to shoot a video this week showing how your legs can provide more explosive power through impact. Check back in next week. Casey asks at 12:45: Just wanted to send an update video and get your thoughts if you think I am on the right track. I think my pivot from face-on has improved a lot (I like to watch Snead's hips a lot because I struggle with sliding/pushing off my right leg too early). I am really trying to groove this move currently but would also like to see my right elbow stay tighter to the body from DTL during the release. I think that will make the clubface more stable through impact, do you agree?Thank you for the help. Good call on Fredy at the Masters! -CaseyDTL: Face on: I agree that the pivot looks better from face on. I would like to see your left foot remain flatter on the ground through impact and into the finish. This would help stabilize the clubface on its own and minimize the action of your hands and arms. I personally don’t mind the arms moving out away from the body during the release with the driver. The fad of going low left with the arms, hands and shaft through impact doesn’t match with the greatest drivers over the last 40 years. It was hard to see on the video but it looks like the left wrist was quite cupped at the top of the backswing. Don’t let it get out of hand…Michael asks at 12:35: I appreciate you helping golfers who want to improve. I just wanted to ask you a few questions regarding my swing. I sent a video in February and you told me that I had to steepen my shaft on the backswing. Is it better now? I am currently hitting the ball severely off the heel and I am hitting the occasional shank, especially on half-wedge shots. I know I early-extend and I know that is the cause of most of my problems, but what causes me to come off of the tush line in the first place? I can’t seem to pinpoint any specific fault in my swing besides some head sway. Also, do I swing too steep on the way down, and why do I maintain my tush line until halfway down in my swing? Basically I just want to minimize my early extension in order to become more consistent and strike the ball solidly.Here’s the video, it has both face on and down the line views in it: Thank you for any help/drills, it is greatly appreciated. Thanks for the video, Michael. Check out the question and answer directly below as it applies to you. In the video you sent the shortest clubs had the worst posture in the address position as the weight was sitting well back into your heels. This virtually guarantees you will shoot your lower body toward the ball on the downswing. The other issue has to do with the shape of your backswing. The club is well across at the top, which often leads to a steeper transition and the need to drive the legs toward the target line to shallow out the angle of attack. I would love to see you improve your posture at address and work on lining the club up in a neutral position at the top of the backswing. The function of the legs through impact really needs the bulk of your attention, but getting the other elements under control will make it easier. Do the drill I recommended in the answer below and check out these pictures of the posture and top of backswing to get you started. JP asks at 12:00: Hi Brady... Last week you told me"The knee is working out toward the target line and the ball instead of down and 'behind' the right knee. You need to get the trail leg working properly through impact to prevent the collision between the left hip and elbow to clean up the contact."How do you work on getting the trail leg working properly? (I watched several pros on video and wasn't sure how to notice this)I am having issues with drop-kicking the driver again, sometimes 18 inches behind the ball... what can I do? (I need to get that thought out of my head) Drop-kicking the driver is very typical when your lower body moves toward the ball. It makes yourupper body hang back and become vertical putting the bottom of the arc behind the ball. Getting your left leg to function properly will help your upper body remain bent over the ball and free up space for your left elbow to get in front of your left hip. This will fix the drop-kicking issue and help you avoid the shank as well. Here is a drill to help you feel the proper location of your legs through impact. Without a club, take your address position with normal amount of forward lean and knee flex. Straighten both legs while remaining bent over and rotate your hips around to the target while keeping your legs straight. While maintaining the forward lean, straight legs and hip rotation, push up on your left big toe so it shifts the weight more onto your front foot. You should feel some stretch in the inside of your left thigh and your left glute should be in full squeeze. Once you get the feel of this, hit a few shots with a 7-iron starting in this position that travel 10 yards. Move on to some short shots from a normal starting position where you try to achieve this spot following through a very short distance. Increase the speed and length of the swing as you gain more control over your legs until you are hitting full shots. This takes time and effort as I’m sure you are aware, but you are ready for this step. Here are a couple of pictures to help you visualize the legs.